Verizon Teases May 22nd Announcement: 5 Possibilities

Verizon wireless just sent out invites to a special event on May 22nd at CTIA, opening up the possibilities for a Samsung Galaxy S4 release announcement, the long rumored Verizon HTC One, a new Nokia Lumia or possibly even new plan options to compete with T-Mobile.

The Verizon special event invitation doesn’t share any real details about the event, other than telling us to save the date for May 22nd. This falls on the second day of CTIA in Las Vegas, Nevada. CTIA is an industry trade show, similar to a CES for the wireless industry.

Verizon has a secret to share on May 22nd at CTIA 2013. Here are five possible announcements.

Given the wide-open invitation to save the date and a plethora of possible upcoming Verizon announcements there are plenty of items Verizon could announce at CTIA 2013. While the show is typically lower on the radar for the average consumer, these five possible Verizon announcements should register on the excitement level.

Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 Release

The Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 is official, but not release is available.

Though the Verizon Galaxy S4 is officially heading to Verizon we don’t know when consumers can actually buy the device. There are rumors of a Samsung Galaxy S4 release on Verizon on May 30th, which would give the carrier enough time to announce the device and start taking pre-orders.

With the Galaxy S4 release on Sprint, AT&T and T-Mobile closer, Verizon may feel the need to make this announcement earlier than CTIA, but the carrier is almost always last to release new Samsung Galaxy devices in the U.S.

Verizon HTC One

The Verizon HTC One may see an announcement in May.

Another possibility is the announcement of the Verizon HTC One. One rumor pegs the Verizon HTC One release date one to two months after the HTC One arrives on AT&T and other carriers. The HTC One is already in the hands of some AT&T buyers and should be on the way to other carriers within the next week.

A Verizon HTC One announcement on May 22nd would fit this timeline and could also come with a delayed release until June, which is when another rumor pegged the release.

It’s unlikely that Verizon will announce the HTC one and the Galaxy S4 at the same event, but carrying both devices would help the carrier compete with the other major U.S. Carriers. In our HTC One review we gave the device an Editor’s Choice Award, calling it, “outstanding device that we highly recommend.”

Verizon Nokia Lumia 928

The Nokia Lumia 928 is another flagship device Verizon customers are waiting for. This rumored Windows Phone 8 device reportedly competes with the Nokia Lumia 920 in specs with a 4.5-inch display.

The Nokia Lumia 928 will reportedly feature a new design with a thinner and lighter aluminum body. Leaks indicate the phone features a 8MP PureView camera and a Xenon Flash. This would be the first flagship Windows Phone 8 device from Nokia to land on Verizon.

Verizon Motorola X Phone

Google may continue the friendly Motorola, Verizon friendship with an X Phone announcement.

The Motorola X Phone is another possibility for the Verizon CTIA announcement, albiet a slim one. The Motorola X Phone, or Google X Phone as it is sometimes called, is said to arrive in the second half of 2013 running stock android with a smaller screen and may arrive with the choice of up to 20 colors.

Google may not have the X Phone ready for a release at Google I/O in mid-May, but the company could announce the device and leave it open for Verizon to share more about the X Phone at CTIA. Motorola and Verizon have a long history with the Droid line of smartphones. Google skipped Verizon with the Nexus 4 to avoid slow carrier updates so we will need to see how the relationship progresses in 2013.

New Verizon Contract Free Plans

A petition asks Verizon to end contracts.

Yet another possibility is that Verizon will announce plan changes to drop smartphone subsidies and end contracts for smartphone service, similar to the new T-Mobile plans. Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam previously stated that the carrier could, “could move to that [no subsidies] very quickly” if consumers are interested.

Verizon recently switched to taking away early upgrades and now offers a phone payment plan for smartphones which allows users to pay off the device over 12 months. There is currently a petition to end Verizon contracts with 90,000 signatures on Change.org.

Whatever Verizon announce on May 22nd at CTIA, Gotta Be Mobile will be there to share the news.